An LED billboard in Kent displays an ad for Xfinity. The sign can change every eight seconds.

Hugo Kugiya, Contributing Writer

Next month, Clear Channel Communications will deploy an electronic billboard near the Home Depot store in Tukwila. It will be the closest such sign to Seattle to date, the 14th in the region, and a gentle escalation of what the outdoor giant hopes is a trend.

Digital technology has transformed the media industry — except when it comes to outdoor advertising. This is particularly true in Washington, not because of technological hurdles, but because of regulatory roadblocks.

Those roadblocks, in Clear Channel’s view, arise from the misunderstanding that the new signs, which use light-emitting diodes, are distractions for drivers and are garish eyesores.

“We haven’t done a great job of showcasing the reality of what digital billboards do,” said Jim Cullinan, a vice president of marketing and communications for San Antonio, Texas-based Clear Channel. “There’s a fear that says we don’t want Times Square or the Vegas strip coming to our city.”

The biggest “misnomer,” he said, is that digital means “moving.”

While one sign might post a new ad every eight seconds, each ad’s images are static — they don’t flash, move or otherwise resemble television or a webpage. From a distance, Cullinan said, digital billboards are indistinguishable from traditional boards, unless you happen to look when the ad image changes.

Currently, Seattle, King County and the state prohibit the use of digital billboards in the city and along county and state roads. That leaves Clear Channel with few options for locating them, among them municipalities such as Kent and Tukwila.

Washington is one of only seven states with a prohibition on digital billboards.

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